Artsakh Republic President Arayik Harutyunyan made the following post on his Facebook page:
“Dear compatriots,
February 20, 1988 entered the annals of the Armenian people as a symbol of the revival of the national spirit, of firm unity and unbreakable will, as the beginning of an entire era of struggle and strife, of rebuilding and creation, of loss and victories.
Thirty-three years have passed since that day. Today the Armenians of Artsakh are living through one of the most complex and heaviest phases of their history, living huddled and clenched into a fist from the blows of fate, teeth and fists clenched in pain, the scream lodged in the throat and tears welled up in the eyes.
They live, keeping alive within themselves the spirit and ideals of ’88, even more confident and steadfast that the path they have chosen is right and irreversible, that more than ever, today they must live and build up the homeland, which has been doubly sanctified by the blood of its new-day heroes.
And in the name of our martyrs, our dreams and our generations, Artsakh will be reborn, will rise from the ruins and continue its eternal course. We are obliged to continue the value-based struggle of the Artsakh movement and to be stronger, more developed, solid and united, decisively defending our rights and freedoms, national interests and values, honor and dignity.
This is the path of the Armenian people’s survival. And may peace and success accompany our people and homeland on that path.”
